


We Can Make It

by OhYaBettaDont



Category: Neo Yokio
Genre: Boys Kissing, Flirting, Hook-Up, M/M, Musical Instruments, New Beginnings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 09:44:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21456001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhYaBettaDont/pseuds/OhYaBettaDont
Summary: Kaz finds out that everybody, including Arcangelo himself, has forgotten about Kaz and Arcangelo's rivalry. In trying to figure out what's going on, he makes some interesting discoveries about Arcangelo -- and about himself.
Relationships: Arcangelo Corelli/Kaz Kaan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58





	We Can Make It

Kaz had not wanted to go out that night. He just hadn’t. He’d been bickering with various family members all day, his allergies were acting up, and he was just feeling generally depressed. It seemed like a good night to stay in and rewatch _Gilmore Girls._

But he’d do anything for his two best friends, and they’d wanted to go to this party. So there they were, at some penthouse on the far east side of town. Kaz couldn’t even remember who was supposed to be the host. He scanned the room for familiar faces, and his eyes landed on a familiar head of blond hair.

“Oh God,” Kaz grumbled. “_He’s_ here.”

“Who’s here?” asked Gottlieb.

Arcangelo Corelli, Kaz’s archenemy, stood by the pool table, surrounded by his east-side friends and a handful of impressively attractive women. They shot pool, they drank, they laughed, with Arcangelo always the center of attention, looking as smug as ever.

“Arcangelo,” Kaz responded through clenched teeth.

Lexy piped in. “What, are you two friends or something?”

“You’re joking, right?” Met with blank stares from both Lexy and Gottlieb, he elaborated. “It’s Arcangelo.” Still no response. “And me.” Crickets. “We’re rivals? You know, sworn enemies?”

“I did not know that,” Gottlieb said.

“Me neither,” added Lexy.

“Guys, we talked about this yesterday. We literally _saw_ him. Don’t you remember?”

They both shook their heads.

“Seriously, guys, this isn’t funny.” They were starting to freak him out a little. There’s no way his two closest friends could just forget about such an important rivalry in his life, is there? It came up in conversation too regularly for them to not remember.

“It’s not funny to us, either,” said Lexy. “If he’s that important to you, I’m kind of offended that you never brought him up.”

Kaz scoffed. He didn’t like the way Lexy said that. He made it sound like Arcangelo was his boyfriend or something, and that was the furthest thing from the truth. Kaz hated Arcangelo, and Arcangelo hated Kaz. That’s how things had always been, and that’s how things would always be. “There’s no way you guys don’t know what I’m talking about. Practically the whole city knows about it. Here, I’ll show you.” He approached the pool table. When he got closer and he still wasn’t acknowledged, he made sure to get within Arcangelo’s line of sight. Surely someone would say something, even if that someone wasn’t Arcangelo.

Arcangelo was bent over the pool table. He shot the 6-ball into a corner pocket, a move that was met with a polite golf clap from his friends. He looked up and locked eyes with Kaz. Brushing his long blond hair out of his face, Arcangelo said, “Hey. You’re Kaz Kaan, aren’t you?”

“Ha ha, very funny, Arcangelo,” Kaz replied, rolling his eyes.

When Kaz said his name, Arcangelo's face lit up. “Oh, you already know my name, too. I guess that means we can skip introductions.” He held out his pool cue. “Wanna play?”

“Okay, seriously, what are you trying to pull here?” Kaz asked, raising his voice slightly. He could feel Arcangelo’s friends staring at him. “Is this some kind of prank?”

“What do you mean?”

The group’s stares got more intense. Conversations stopped. Kaz realized he risked making a scene if he kept raising his voice at Arcangelo. “I, uh… I mean, do you really not remember me?”

The area around the pool table became as quiet as a tennis match. Arcangelo scratched his head. “Well, I know who you are. And I know I've seen you around. But have we talked before?”

Kaz wanted to scream. Yes. Practically every day, for years. This was becoming less funny. It was actually starting to scare Kaz a little, seeing his archrival acting like they'd never met.

When Kaz stayed quiet, Arcangelo added, “maybe you can refresh my memory. Why don't you join the game? We can chat while we play.”

“Oh, no,” Kaz said, taking a step back and accidentally bumping into the woman standing behind him. “I don’t play pool.”

“Ah, c’mon, it’s not hard. I’ll show you.” Arcangelo beckoned Kaz.

The woman behind Kaz gave him a gentle push. “Go to him, Kaz,” she told him in a certain tone as if she was saying, What’s wrong with you?

Kaz groaned. “Fine.” He approached Arcangelo.

Arcangelo grinned. “Alright, it’s still our turn. Let me show you how it’s done.” As Kaz was about to snatch the cue out of Arcangelo’s hand and inform him that he did, in fact, know how to play pool, Arcangelo grabbed him by the shoulders to turn him around. Now standing behind him, Arcangelo got closer to Kaz until he was only an inch or two away. He held the pool cue in front of Kaz. “Now, you just lean in toward the table like this,” he said, guiding Kaz as he spoke. “Hold the cue like this. We’re trying to get the 5-ball into that side pocket.”

Everyone surrounding the pool table was still staring at them, but for a very different reason now. Kaz even saw Lexy and Gottlieb watching out of the corner of his eye. How embarrassing.

“We make sure our hands are nice and steady, and we shoot.” Arcangelo hit the 5-ball into the pocket. He straightened up, using one hand to hold the cue while the other rested lightly on Kaz’s shoulder. “See? It’s that easy.” He handed the cue over to one of his buddies. “Now, what should I remember you from?”

The crowd, apparently sensing that the show was over, went back to its normal buzzing. Kaz had no idea where to start. How do you explain to someone that you’ve known him for years when you’re the only person who seems to remember? “Arcangelo,” he said, “we talked yesterday.”

Arcangelo made a face. “Did we?” He turned to one of his friends. “Hey, Bradley, did we see Kaz Kaan yesterday?”

“Uh, I think I saw him at one point,” the man replied, “but he was across the street from us. We didn’t say anything to each other though. I just noticed him because that pink hair is hard to miss, ya know what I mean?” He said this more to Kaz than to Arcangelo.

“Right,” Kaz replied slowly. “Well, _I_ remember having a conversation with you and the East Side Gentlemen about some concert you were planning on going to.”

Arcangelo chuckled. “Kaz, I think if I got to talk to someone like you yesterday,” he leaned in a little closer, “I’d remember it.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Kaz groaned. “Please tell me you’re messing with me. This is just getting too weird.”

“I’m afraid I’ve told you all that I know. But I’d love to hear more of your stories.” Arcangelo lowered his voice. “What do you say you and I ditch this dump and go back to my place, huh?” He wiggled his eyebrows a couple times.

Oh no. Something was seriously wrong here. Arcangelo truly, honestly didn’t remember his rivalry with Kaz. Nobody did. How could this have happened? Was the real Arcangelo replaced by some hyper-realistic decoy? Was Kaz in some sort of simulation? Or worse, was this like the movie _Groundhog Day_ where he would just keep living the same day over and over again for the equivalent of decades? “I’m sorry,” Kaz stammered, “I need to go talk to my friends.” He zipped away before Arcangelo could reply.

Kaz approached Lexy and Gottlieb, who had gotten themselves drinks. “Heyo! Kaz!” Gottlieb shouted at him. “You’ve got some serious game, man.”

“What? No, I don’t. I suck at pool.” Plus, he’d only taken one turn, and that was the turn when Arcangelo had basically done it for him.

Gottlieb chuckled. “Nah, man, I’m not talking about pool. I mean that game you’ve got with Arcangelo.”

“Yeah,” Lexy added. “We were watching him get all up close and personal with you, showing you how to shoot pool. You’re slick, acting like you don’t know how to play so he’ll teach you.”

“Ugh, guys, knock it off!” Kaz barked. He could feel his jaw clenching. “For the last time, Arcangelo and I are_ rivals_. We _hate _each other.”

“Then you sure have a weird way of showing it,” Gottlieb replied, trying to hold in his laughter.

Kaz pressed his lips together. “That’s it,” he said. “I’ve got to get to the bottom of whatever’s going on here.” He turned around. “I’m going back to Arcangelo’s place with him.”

Lexy and Gottlieb simultaneously went, “Oooh!” followed by a playful laugh.

“Go get ‘em, my man!” Gottlieb called to Kaz as he walked away from them.

Kaz picked up his pace a little. He figured it would be best if he got this out of the way before he could second-guess his decision.

“Hey, you came back,” Arcangelo said as he weaved past a small group of people to get to Kaz. “I thought you may have ditched me for your friends over there. So whaddya say?” He leaned in again, this time getting even closer. “Are we having our own little after-party tonight?”

Arcangelo’s tone made the hairs on the back of Kaz’s neck stand up. This was all just too weird. The man who was supposed to be his sworn enemy not only had no memory of their rivalry, but was also making moves on him. He managed to say, “Yeah, let’s go.”

Arcangelo had driven there. He opened the passenger seat for Kaz, letting him in before getting into the driver’s side. As Kaz sat on the leather seat of Arcangelo’s bright red convertible, he wondered how many times he’d seen it drive by, but he’d never been inside it. The car sped off into the crisp night. Kaz wondered what the hell he was getting himself into.

***

Taking the first few steps into Arcangelo’s apartment, Kaz realized he’d never been there either. All these years of knowing Aracangelo, and they’d hardly seen any pieces of each other’s lives.

“Here, have a seat,” Arcangelo said, gesturing toward his loveseat. “I’ll get us some wine. Cabernet or chardonnay?”

“Um. Chardonnay, I guess.” Kaz didn’t think he’d be able to stomach cabernet. Not with whatever craziness that was happening to him. What was he even doing here? And why was Arcangelo acting like this? Arcangelo would never be this flirty with Kaz normally, unless…

Oh my God. There was no way. All those years of fierce competition and various levels of teasing, all the times Arcangelo had tried to steal Kaz’s date, no matter where they were… had he been…

Kaz’s thoughts were interrupted when Arcangelo brought out a bottle of White Burgundy and two glasses. He sat next to Kaz, a little dangerously close to him, and poured the wine. Kaz politely accepted a glass. They clinked glasses, but Kaz only took a small sip. His stomach was still feeling less than ideal, so he didn’t exactly want to push his luck and end up getting sick in someone else’s apartment. That’s a sure way to never get invited back.

Not that he wanted to get invited back to this apartment in particular, of course. It was a nice apartment, though – nicely decorated. A lot of Western European influence. But that didn’t mean he was that keen on returning. He had no reason to be… did he?

“So, Kaz,” Arcangelo said, absently swirling the wine in his glass, “you told me there’s something I should be remembering, right?” Hesitantly, Kaz nodded. “Why don’t you refresh my memory, then?” He rested his arm that wasn’t holding his wine glass on the back of the loveseat behind Kaz.

“Well, you and I, we’ve known each other for years.”

“Hm. Have we, now?” Arcangelo got even closer until his thigh touched Kaz’s.

Kaz swallowed hard. “Yes. In fact, we’ve been on rivaling field hockey teams for a few years now. We’re also rivals because we’re constantly competing for the top spot on the Bachelor Board. Remember?” He felt stupid asking Arcangelo if he remembered, but at this point it was worth a shot.

Arcangelo smiled, clearly not understanding or remembering any of this. “Ah, the Bachelor Board,” he mused. “I wonder what it would be like to kiss the Second Most Eligible Bachelor in Neo Yokio.”

Heat rose in Kaz’s face. This couldn’t be happening. This had to be some freaky _Groundhog Day _situation. He’d wake up in the morning in his own bed, and none of this will have happened.

…And if that was case, that meant his actions won’t have consequences, right? He could be free to run with this odd curiosity that had come up.

“You’re not very good at taking hints, are you, Kaz?” Arcangelo asked, biting his bottom lip to suppress his smile. “Can I kiss you?”

Kaz had to stop himself from saying, Fine. Just kiss me already. Get it out of the way so I know how horrible it is and I’ll never want to do it again. Instead, Kaz looked directly into Arcangelo’s bright green eyes and said, “Yes.”

Leaning in, Arcangelo gave Kaz a soft, quick peck on the lips. To Kaz’s surprise, it felt amazing. It felt so good that he hated it. He hated how good it felt to have Arcangelo Corelli’s stupid lips touch his. He hated how much he wanted Arcangelo to do it again.

Arcangelo went in for a second kiss, but Kaz stopped him.

“Wait,” said Kaz, “this is wrong.”

Arcangelo gave Kaz a concerned look. “What, are Magistocrats like, some kind of fundamentalist Christians or something? Are you not allowed to like men?”

“No, no.” Kaz’s family was crazy enough as it was. He couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be if there was drama every time someone brought home a same-sex partner. “I just mean _this…_” he gestured between himself and Arcangelo, “is wrong. You and I are supposed to be enemies.”

“Says who?”

“Says…” Kaz stopped. What force dictated what his relationship to Arcangelo should be like? If he was the only person who remembered that they were once enemies, maybe whatever force is out there was giving him a second chance. It wasn’t like they were predestined to become enemies. Their upbringing in this odd modern society had led them to becoming enemies. “I guess I don’t know.”

“I really can’t imagine us being enemies,” Arcangelo said. “I’ve always liked you.”

Kaz nearly spat out his chardonnay. “What? I thought you said you’ve never talked to me before!” Things were somehow getting more confusing.

Arcangelo took another sip of wine. “I haven’t, but I’ve seen you around. I see you at parties, in the news, even on those Caprese Boy billboards. I always thought you were pretty.”

Although flattered at first, Kaz had to remind himself that this was Arcangelo Corelli. This was the man who was supposed to be (used to be?) his enemy. If Arcangelo was calling Kaz pretty now, this may mean he’d felt this way for a long time, even back when they were rivals. Kaz couldn’t wrap his head around that.

“How about another kiss?” Arcangelo leaned in again, but Kaz stopped him again.

“I’m sorry,” Kaz stuttered, “I’m just so confused. Are we not rivals?”

Arcangelo looked down for a moment, then back at Kaz. “Honestly, Kazzie – can I call you Kazzie? – I wish I knew what you were talking about. I wish I remembered all the things you think I should, and that you and I had history together like you said we did.” He brushed a stray lock of blond hair out of his face. “That would mean I knew you better than I do now, and that’s all I want.”

Kaz felt like there was something in his chest that desperately wanted out. “You can’t be serious,” he said, not fully believing in the words he was saying. Of course Arcangelo was being serious. Kaz knew Arcangelo. It tended to be pretty obvious when Arcangelo was just fucking around, and this was not one of those times.

Setting down his wine glass, Arcangelo sighed. “You’re a hard nut to crack, Kaz Kaan,” he said, “but I’m not giving up that easily.” He stood up and went toward his bass, which was on a stand near the window. “Let me play you a song.”

Before Kaz could protest, Arcangelo grabbed his bass and started playing a funky tune. He didn’t even look at the strings – he gazed at Kaz while playing, then he started singing.

_I see the crystal raindrops fall_

_And the beauty of it all_

_Is when the sun comes shining through_

_To make those rainbows in my mind_

_When I think of you sometime_

_And I wanna spend some time with you_

Oh God, Arcangelo was playing Just the Two Of Us. Did he really want to get into Kaz’s pants that badly?

_Just the two of us_

_We can make it if we try_

_Just the two of us_

_You and I_

Arcangelo stopped. “More wine?” he asked.

Kaz looked at his wine glass and realized it was empty. He’d hardly noticed that he’d been drinking it. “Oh no, I shouldn’t,” he said, setting down his glass. “I should actually… probably be getting home.” He needed rest. He needed time to figure this out.

“No, wait,” Arcangelo said, putting down his bass. “You just got here. Don’t you want to stay a little longer? Have at least one more glass, I insist.” Without letting Kaz say anything, he grabbed Kaz’s wine glass and filled it with more White Burgundy.

“I guess I could stay a little longer,” said Kaz as he accepted the wine offered to him. Now that it was already poured, he couldn’t let it go to waste. Kaz started to wonder what things would be like if they stayed like this. If nobody, not even Arcangelo himself, remembered Kaz’s past with Arcangelo, they could have a completely different future together.

What was he thinking? Everything should go back to normal in the morning, shouldn’t it?

But what if it didn’t? What if he woke up tomorrow morning and everyone remembered Kaz Kaan leaving a party with Arcangelo Corelli?

Would that be so bad?

“You alright, Kazzie?” Arcangelo asked. He took his place next to Kaz on the loveseat, this time putting his arm around Kaz’s shoulders. “You’re making a face.”

Relaxing his face, Kaz managed a small smile. “Yes, I’m fine. In fact, I’ll take that kiss now.”

***

Maybe it was ill-advised, but Kaz let Arcangelo talk him into staying the night. Why not, right? What was the worst that could happen?

Kaz woke up the next morning in someone’s arms. He was being spooned, so he couldn’t see who it was. Was it a woman? Was it the man he’d gone to bed with last night? He stirred a little.

A sleepy grunt came from behind him. It was a man’s grunt. “Good morning, Kazzie,” he said quietly.

Arcangelo. So Kaz wasn’t trapped in a _Groundhog Day_ situation after all. They’d shared some intimate moments last night, and Kaz was suddenly flustered realizing that he wouldn’t be the only person to remember them. What had he done? What would this do to his reputation? He practically leapt out of bed, not caring that all he wore were boxer shorts and socks.

Still groggy, Arcangelo sat up in bed. “Woah. What’s wrong?”

“I shouldn’t be here,” Kaz said frantically. “I need to leave.” He started to gather up his clothes at a speed that most mecha-butlers would probably envy.

“Wait,” said Arcangelo. “Can I at least give you my number before you go?”

“Ugh. Why?” Kaz barked as he buttoned up his shirt.

Arcangelo gave Kaz a confused look. “Because… I have feelings for you.”

Kaz stopped himself. “Huh?”

“All those things I said last night… I meant them.” Arcangelo seemed different than normal. He wasn’t acting like the Arcangelo Kaz had known for years, or the Arcangelo he’d seen last night. He seemed more like a sad teenage boy who was being dumped.

Seeing Arcangelo be so honest about his feelings for Kaz made Kaz realize that he needed to come to terms with his own feelings too. For years he’d been denying the way he felt when he saw Arcangelo – he’d always pretended it was hatred or jealousy – but now he had to be honest with himself. He hadn’t slept with Arcangelo out of curiosity alone. There was at least a little bit of attraction there, no matter how much he hated its presence. “Okay,” said Kaz. He offered Arcangelo his phone.

“Oh, hell yes,” Arcangelo cheered. Perking up immediately, he put in his phone number and returned the phone to Kaz. “Text me, alright?”

Kaz zipped up his pants. “Alright.” Just as he was walking out the door, he got a text in his group chat from Lexy:

_Hey Kaz, u still coming to brunch??_

Shit. He’d forgotten about his brunch plans with Lexy and Gottlieb. He responded:

_Sorry guys, I have to skip. Need to go home and change._

Lexy texted back immediately:

_AHH SHIT DUDE!!_

Followed shortly by Gottlieb, who just sent a string of eggplant emojis.

His phone buzzed a few more times. Great. Now he would never hear the end of this.

Kaz got back to his apartment and immediately got in the shower. When he stepped out of the bathroom, Lexy and Gottlieb were sitting on the edge of his bed. They startled him. He almost dropped the towel around his waist. “Jesus, guys, what are you doing here?” he shrieked. “Aren’t you supposed to be at brunch?”

“Dog, for real? We skipped brunch to come see you,” said Gottlieb, leaning forward.

“Yep. Charles let us in,” Lexy added. “We decided we couldn’t wait to hear about last night.”

Kaz groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why not?” Lexy asked. “Clearly you did something right if you had to do the walk of shame this morning.”

“You gotta tell us about it, dude!” Gottlieb cried. “You hooked up with one of the hottest guys in the city, didn’t you?”

Kaz blushed a little. “I mean, yeah, I hooked up with Arcangelo…”

“Details, dude, details!” said Gottlieb. It wasn’t a request; it was a demand.

Lexy said, “Yeah, come on, Kaz! I want to know everything!”

“Fine.” Kaz told them all about what had happened last night: the chardonnay, Arcangelo’s rendition of Just the Two of Us, the soft, sweet kisses, everything. He only left out the parts where he and Arcangelo had talked about their supposed rivalry – even if it were relevant to the story, his friends wouldn’t have cared about that. As he told the story, he found himself smiling at the more romantic parts, laughing at the awkward parts. It was a nice story. It had been a nice night.

“You got his number?” Gottlieb squealed when Kaz concluded his story. Kaz nodded. “Duuuuuude. Have you texted him yet?”

“Not yet. I just got home.” Kaz hadn’t even gotten dressed yet – his friends hadn’t given him a chance to.

Lexy and Gottlieb gawked. “Text him now!” they yelled in unison.

“Alright, alright,” Kaz replied, half-laughing. He grabbed his phone. “What should I even say to him?”

His friends spoke over each other, both talking way too quickly to be understandable anyway. While they tried to drown each other out, Kaz typed up a simple message:

_Hey, this is Kaz. Last night was fun. We should do it again sometime._

“Okay, I sent him a text,” said Kaz. This immediately shut Lexy and Gottlieb up. He sat down on his bed in between them, holding his phone up so that they could read over his shoulders.

Gottlieb gasped. “Shit, dude! He’s typing!” He gripped Kaz’s shoulder.

_Yeah it’s fun hanging out just the two of us_

Arcangelo concluded his text with a winking emoji.

Kaz couldn’t help but smile. Just the two of them.


End file.
